Happy new year, everyone! It’s official – 2023 is in the history books; 2024 has arrived and with it comes, hopefully, many new and exciting opportunities. What does the new year have in store? I don’t know, but we will soon find out.
I find the start of a new year to be a good time for developing goals to accomplish, but that’s not something I always put into practice. This past year is a perfect example of that; I never outlined anything I hoped to accomplish by the end of the year, and, frankly, it shows. . .at least to me.
Maybe one of my goals for this year is to actually set some goals. Well, that’s what I’m about to do, so I can scratch that one off the list. Hey, look at that. I’ve already accomplished something!
In all seriousness, though, there are a couple of things I would like to achieve this year from a photographic standpoint. So, here are my photography goals for 2024.
#1: Go out more often and focus on photography
I’ll admit this doesn’t seem like much of a goal to accomplish. After all, how difficult can it really be to get out and do some photography? I’ve set this as a goal for myself several times, but I never felt that I actually accomplished it. It wasn’t until I recently put pen to paper and went through the numbers that I realized just how far I have been from achieving this goal. In 2022, excluding family trips because photography really can’t be a focus on those, I went out 24 days with one month having no outings at all. In 2023, I went out an even fewer 16 days, and there were three months when I didn’t go out at all. On at least a couple of these days, my wife and dog were probably with me, so these numbers are probably overstated.
I was absolutely shocked when I saw these numbers. They are abysmal. But, they reveal two things. First, they explain why I often feel that my photography is not improving as much as I would like; I don’t get out enough and practice. It’s just that simple. The second revelation is that part of the reason I don’t accomplish the goal is that I haven’t really set a specific target to achieve. It’s just an ambiguous “get out more” that doesn’t really mean anything.
With all of this in mind, my 2024 goal is to get out at least 25 days in total and at least one day every month and focus solely on my photography.
#2: Photograph at times other than early morning
The vast majority of my images are made early in the morning with my arriving on location well before sunrise. There are several reasons why I prefer this time of day. First, there are very few people who are going to be up and about so early in the morning, especially on a weekend. Second, early morning is usually a very quiet and peaceful time for me, and I really enjoy that sense of tranquility. Third, I don’t have to worry so much about harsh lighting conditions, which also means that I am often packing up and heading home by mid-morning.
By limiting my photography to such a small window of time, though, I am also limiting my photographic opportunities, and there is simply no good reason for doing that. Additionally, a location can have a completely different look and feel depending on the time of day, which is something I don’t often get to experience for myself because I limit myself to going out only in the mornings.
So, this year, my goal is for at least one-third of my images to be created at times other than early morning, which I will further define as before 9:00 am.
#3: Create artistic images, not just “pretty pictures”
A couple of months ago, I read a blog post entitled “Be an Artist” by photographer John Pedersen. In his post, Mr. Pedersen describes a situation in which someone comes upon a beautiful location with an iconic feature, sets up his gear, and photographs the most obvious composition. It is probably a pretty picture, but is it artistic?
Mr. Pedersen says the answer is probably no because there wasn’t much skill (outside the technical skill of operating the camera) or creative imagination put into the image. He goes on to define creative imagination as “the ability to take in your surroundings, process what you are seeing and what your reaction is to it, THEN take all of that input and come up with a creative idea for how to represent, interpret or communicate your reaction to what you are experiencing.”
I agree with Mr. Pedersen’s premise, and it’s something I can or, rather, cannot see in my own photographs. I have a fair amount of images that are pretty. I have very, very few images that I consider truly artistic. I tell myself that I’m taking my time and creating the best image possible, but the truth is I generally do little more than make photographs that are a step or two above snapshots. I haven’t really considered my surroundings or understood what I was seeing or how I reacted to it, so there is little chance that I will be able to convey those qualities in my images.
One of my almost annual goals has been to slow down my photography and to focus on the quality of my images. But, no matter how hard I try, I always seem to fall back into my old ways of finding something of interest, getting an image or two, and moving on to the next spot. That probably has to do with, once again, not setting a specific, concrete expectation for myself.
Photographer Rick Sammon has what he calls his one-picture promise: “When you are in a situation, ask yourself, ‘If I could take only one picture, what would that one picture be?’ Think about the best exposure, best composition and best lens choice. Also try to visualize what you can do when processing that image.” This is not the way I typically approach my photography, but the concept makes sense and inherently forces one to slow down and be deliberate in creating an image.
In 2024, I am going to strive to implement this practice in my photography to try to create more artistic images. This goal, unlike my first two goals which have clear, objective expectations, is a little more ambiguous. How do I decide if my images are artistic or not? Frankly, I don’t know. Ultimately, I guess it will have to come down to my judgment and being honest with myself.
There they are – my photography goals for 2024. If you’ve set any goals for yourself this year, I’d love to hear what they are. Just drop a comment below.